Combined call-indicator, dialer, and timer



June 26, 1945. s, .S'RAEL' 2,379,303

COMBI NEiJ CALL-INDICATOR, DIALER, AND TIMER Filed Jan. 2'7, 1941 Patented June 26, 1945 orrice COMBINEHCALL-INDICATOR, 'DIALERa; AND TIMER.

Sidney Israel, Brooklyn; N: Y;

Applicationlanuary 27, 1941, Serial No; 3715:5148

1 Claim.

This: invention relatesztola telephone calleindie cator,,dia1er and. timer; fonindicating the number of calls thathave-been transmittedover the telephone; also-for dialing. the telephone; and. timing the calls.

An object? of 'this-invention-is to, provide apertable device having asight opening and means for keeping; an. accurate. account of' the number of calls transmitted over a telephone.

Anotherv object of this invention is. to provide combinedmeans for actuating; the said device as well' as for actuating a'dialing disk of a. telephone.

Another. object of this invention. is. to provide timing mean integral with the call-counting and dialing device whereby. the user willhave a visual indication. of thev length. of time that haselapsed since hezstartedtalking t .the party called.

Another. objector this=invention is to; provide. in a; device of theclass. described, a visual indica tion. of] the, numberrofi telephone calls already made, and. a signal. or click. when. the counting portionoi. the. device registers an. advanceef. one aboveithe previously. indicated. number of calls made.

Another object. of. thisinventicn is to employ ratchet. teeth which. will prevent rotation, of. the dialing mechanism in the wrongdirection.

Another object of. thisinvention .is to provide. a

dialing knob having a. substantially hook-.-shaped endiportionadaptedforpositive engagement. with the apertured portions of the dialing diskcfv a telephone.

With theabove andother objects. in view, the invention will be hereinafter more particularly described, andthe combination and arrangement or part will be shown in the accompanying drawing and pointed. outin the. claim which form part of this specification.

Reference will now be had to the drawing, wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views, in which:

Figure. 1. is. a side elevation. of the combined call-indicator andidi'aler.

Figure 2 'isan end'elevation offthedevice shown inrrgure -1.

Figured isa.crossrsectionalview, the section being taken as online 3-3 in Figure 1.

Figure. 4:.is a. cross-sectional. view, the section beingtaken asonline 4-.-4 inFigure 3.

Figure. 5. is a fragmentary end portion of the device, onanenlarged scale.

Figure 6 a. fragmentary. dialing end portion of the device, on an enlarged scale.

Figure 7 isanlendyiew of an end plug.

Figure 8 i a cross-sectional view of an end plug, the section being taken as on line 8-8 in Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a side elevation of a combined callindicator; dialer: and timer; partly-'brokenlaway to show thefinteriorofsthe timer;

In the illustrated,embodim-entgoi;theinvention. the-numeral Ill indicates acombinedl: devicecom+ prising a1 tubular; casing, II, preferably having; a circularv cross-'sec.tion.-; One endlof thezcasing: I1 is closed. by a plug; I2 having; a flange I3.-which interlocks with the casing. The other end of: the casingis closedby a cylindrical plug; I4 which is slidable; in thelcasing during the assemblingof I the device.

The plug; I 4 has-a bifurcated portion 1 5:, the forks of which: have a transverse aperture lfi therethrough; The casing: H has a. through aperture I 6." of the same-diameter as theaperture I6. Aspindle I8 journalled-in'the apertures I6 and. I6 maintains the. plug;-, I Land casing I I in unitaryrelation; The, forks I-I l1 also. havea through. transverse aperture-19 forminga bearing fora pin.20:

The-spindle I Il has a dialing; knob .2 I at oneend thereof. The knob: 2 I: has an-end portion 22 with a substantially V-shapcd peripherargroove-zaat its junction with the knob 2 I. The portion 22 is made of smaller: diameter than-the dialingaper tures in the .rotatabladisks .oi telephones-having dialing devices.

The plug I2 has a bifurcated portion: 24 the forks- 25. or which. have two parallel. aperture 26 therethroughi Pinsllhave been mounted in the apertures-26;

Inassembledirelation:thewpins.20, 21-, 27.,arein Darallelrelation withthe spindleil 8..

It is to be noted-..thatxthe.-pins- 20,1 21 2.l.=are rotatably mounted. respectively: in the apertures I9, 26, 26. The overall, length. of thewsaid. pins is madeof. a size; which willinot hamper. thewfree movementofthe plugs: I2 and M. inside the casing;

A wheel 28 has, been. mounted. onthespindle I8. The-free-endportion of.the.-spindle I8. isof a sizeto permit free movement thereon of. the wheel 28.. At apprcximately'the midportionof the spindle; I8. i a knurled surface. 2a which is designed to come intofixed engagement with the apertured. inner surface of the wheel 2thv when driveninto assembledrelation.

An. endless. band 30.. preferably. made 5 of; elastic material, serving asameansfor. tensioning the band, hasbeenmounted imfrictional engagement Qn-the-Wheel 28., onthe-.pin 20. and onthe pins 21,. 21. The. endless band 30. has numerals or other indicia.imprinted.thereon When numerals are used they beginlwith-ll and. end. with,66 for. apurposeto. bedescribed. Theindiciaidem tified by the numeral. 3|. arearrangecl in spaced apart relation, and preferably 50 as to read transversely of the length of the band.

The wheel 28 has ratchet teeth 32 in one of its plane surfaces. The teeth 32 are of a length corresponding to the distance between the centers. of successive numerals. The outer periphery of the wheel 28 has axial ribs 33 serving to grip the endless band 30.

A wire spring 34 suitably fixed in the plug l4 and having its free end in engagement with one of the ratchet teeth 32 permits rotation of the ratchet wheel 28 in only one direction. The user may thus grip the knob 2| and give a partial rotation to the wheel 28 and cause the endless band 30 to move step-by-step so as to bring successive numbers into view through a sight opening 35 in the casing II. It is to be noted that when the user gives a partial rotation to the wheel 28, that the spring 34 which was seated at the lower elevation of a ratchet tooth is caused to rise to the top of the ratchet tooth and then drops. The spring then strikes the inclined wall of the succeeding tooth and on contact taking place, a click or sharp sound or audible signal results. This gives a positive warning to the user not to turn the dial any further when registering a single call.

When the device show in Figures 1 to 8 inclusive is used for dialing telephones, the numbers on the endless band 30 may comprise the allowable number of calls per month to a subscriber, such as 66, as is the case in New York city. The user manipulates the dialing knob 2! every time a call is made so as to bring the successively higher number into view. The purpose of dividing the band into 66 equal divisions is to give a telephone user a positive check on the number of calls he has made or used up of the 66 allowable calls at any given day of the month.

The user, upon passing the 66 allowable calls, repeats the operation and then has a positive indication at a glance of the number of extra calls he has made.

It is to be noted that the free end face 36 of the dialing knob 2| is of convex form to facilitate insertion of the end portion 22 in the apertures of a dialing disk.

The spring 34 serving to prevent rotation of the dialing knob in the wrong direction is reinforced against bending by a stub pin 31 (Figure 8). This bending action would happen if the ratchet were forcibly turned in the wrong direction. The stub pin 31 prevents this bending action.

It is to be noted that the ratchet teeth are arranged to prevent accidental rotation of the knob 23 during its use as a dialing means.

As shown in Figure 9, I have provided a combined call-indicator, dialer and timer 4D for the V purpose of giving a visual indication to the telephone user of the length of time that has elapsed since he started talking to the party called. As shown, the timer 41 comprises a transparent cylindrical container 42 preferably made of transparent plastic material and having a closed end 43, two annular contacting surfaces 44, 44, and

an internal diameter larger than the outer diameter of the casing of a call-counter and dialer Ill so as to provide a storage space for a very fine granular material such as fine sand 45.

The timer 4| has an integral annular member 46 interiorly thereof. The member 46 is angularly positioned and has two apertures 41, 41 on diametrically opposite points thereof, the said apertures providing connecting passageways between the substantially equally divided compartments 50, 5D in the timer and forming a time measuring device similar to an hour glass. It is to be noted that the amount of sand and size of the connecting apertures are such that a given amount of time will be consumed in the passage of the sand from one compartment to another.

As shown in Figure 9, each of the compartments 50 will be provided with five graduations equally spaced apart, each one of which represents aminute. The purpose of these graduations is to give a visual indication of the passage of time during conversations over the telephone.

It is to be noted that one of the apertures 41 is positioned at the highest elevation of the member 46 and the other aperture 41 is positioned at the lowest elevation of said member.

Due to the large number of numerals required for telephone dialing, the numerals being imprinted so as to occupy the entire length of the band, the band is considerably longer than the permissible length of the casing, which has to be confined within the palm of the hand. As best shown in Figure 3, it will be seen that the band 30 is rotatably mounted in superposed parallel sections and in interfolded relation within the casing to permit all of the numerals 3! to be successively exposed in the sight opening 35.

It is to be noted that while I have shown the number counting device H) as adapted for telephone dialing, that I may employ the said counting device wherever it is desired to keep a record of successively increasing units by mechanism which will operate only in one direction and which will give an audible signal for each advance. It is also to be noted that the device l0 having the hook-shaped dialing knob 2! may also be used solely for dialing telephones. It is also to be noted that the device 48 having the time measuring device 4 l, shown in Figure 9, may be used solely for measuring time.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described and illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention, but it will be understood that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

In a telephone call indicating device of the character described, a tubular casing having a sight opening, an endless and tensioned band having a large number of numerals imprinted thereon and causing said band to be considerably longer than said casing, said band being rotatably mounted in superposed parallel sections and in interfolded relation within said casing, to permit all of said numerals to be sucessively'exposed in said opening, a spindle having an axially ribbed drive wheel for gripping said band, one end of said spindle having grip means adapted for engagement by the user for actuating said band. ratchet teeth on said drive wheel. said ratchet teeth being positioned on one of the plane surfaces of said drive wheel. a spring engageable with said teeth to permit rotation of said band in only one direction and to cause an audible signal for each successive numeral when moved by said ratchet teeth, and reinforcing means preventing movement of said movable devices in the wrong direction.

SIDNEY ISRAEL. 

